Military Officers in Uruguay Win Amnesty in Rights Cases

President Julio Sanguinetti, moving to head off the possibility of a military rebellion, approved a blanket amnesty Monday for officers accused of human rights abuses during years of military rule.

The president signed the measure a few hours after the Chamber of Deputies, in a tumultuous all-night emergency session that ended at 5:30 a.m., voted 60 to 37 to adopt the amnesty bill. The Senate passed the legislation Sunday.

The law bans trials of all officers alleged to have committed human rights violations during military rule between 1973 and 1985, except those already in progress and those in which the accused sought economic gain.

More Than 5,000 Detained

It also gives the executive branch responsibility for investigating cases of people who disappeared and reporting their findings to relatives with 120 days.

More than 5,000 people were detained in military jails during the 12 years of military rule, which ended in March, 1985, when the democratically elected Sanguinetti came to power.

At least 150 people disappeared, and most of those detained said they had been tortured.

Tempers flared and fistfights broke out on the floor of the Chamber of Deputies as lawmakers debated the bill. Club-swinging riot police surrounded the legislative building and charged into a crowd of stone-throwing demonstrators opposed to the amnesty. Several injuries were reported.

Inside the chamber, congressmen ordered security personnel to empty the spectators’ gallery after onlookers began booing one government party deputy.

Legislators favoring the amnesty bill said it was needed to avoid a military-civilian showdown that threatened the future of the government.

Sanguinetti, who pardoned jailed leftist guerrillas shortly after taking office, is believed to have promised senior military officers that he would approve an amnesty when he negotiated the transition from military to civilian rule.